Roundup: Afghan fighting kill 5, wound 2 including a district governor

The ongoing Afghan militancy and conflicts have claimed five lives, all militants and injured two others including a district governor on Wednesday, officials said.

Five Taliban militants have lost their lives as clashes flared up in Baghlan-e-Markazi district of the northern Baghlan province, a local official confirmed.

"The clash erupted in Baghlan-e-Markazi district late Tuesday night and so far five rebels including a Taliban local commander Qari Mangal have been killed," district governor Gohar Khan Babri told reporters.

The clash is still going on, he said, adding that the security forces have been chasing militants to ensure law and order there.

Baghlan-e-Markazi district, which has been regarded as Taliban hotbed in the northern Baghlan province, has been the scene of bloody clashes between militants and security forces over the past couple of months.

In a related incident, two persons including a district governor were badly injured as a bomb blast organized by militants went off in Kasham district of northern Badakhshan province on Wednesday, a local official said.

"Abdul Jabbar Musadiq, the governor of Kasham district along with his bodyguard, was injured after a remote-controlled bomb struck the district headquarters at around 11:00 a.m. local time today," spokesman for provincial government Ahmad Naved Farotan told Xinhua.

Farotan also blamed Taliban militants for organizing the attack, but the outfit has yet to claim responsibility.

Meanwhile, Taliban outfit in its online statement has claimed killing over a dozen security personnel elsewhere in the conflict- ridden Afghanistan over the past two days.

Since launching annual spring offensive by Taliban outfit in April 24, the hardliner militants have launched series of bloody attacks in parts of the country, claiming hundreds of lives including civilians.

Taliban militants have been engaged in fierce fighting with government forces in parts of the northern Kunduz province over the past one week and so far the Chardara and Dasht-e-Archi districts have been changed hands to hands.

The government forces retook control of Chardara district from Taliban on Monday while efforts for regaining Dasht-e-Archi have been continuing.

Taliban militants, according to local political observers, would do their best to grab more lands before the onset of harsh winter in the mountainous Afghanistan. Endi